Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Taliban government faces multinational legal action that could land it in the UN’s top court over its “contempt” for the rights of women and girls, government officials said.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban confirmed Wednesday that they have formally sought to join the upcoming Russia-hosted summit of the BRICS intergovernmental group of major emerging economies.

Concerns for women and the overall state of humanitarian rights in Afghanistan are growing following further legal clampdowns by the Taliban, the UN Security Council heard on Wednesday. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said the country’s de facto rulers who have imposed their own interpretation of strict Islamic law have “delivered a period of stability not seen in decades” in Afghanistan, yet the population is at risk of a worsened humanitarian and development crisis as international funding declines.

The United Nations will continue engaging with all stakeholders in Afghanistan, advocating for human rights and equality, the global body’s Spokesperson said on Friday, amid the Taliban’s reported rejection of criticism by UN officials of a strict morality law.

The United Arab Emirates has accepted the credentials of an ambassador from Afghanistan's Taliban government, officials said, becoming just the second country after China to do so.

The Taliban have barred United Nations-appointed special rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering Afghanistan, the administration's spokesperson told local broadcaster Tolo, accusing the human rights watchdog of "spreading propaganda".

Ten international NGOs have issued a joint statement calling on donor countries to increase their diplomatic engagement with the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate government in Afghanistan. The statement was released ahead of the third anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul on 15 August 2021.

A UN counter-terrorism official warned Thursday that the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch poses the greatest external terrorist threat to Europe as it boosts its organizational strength. “ISIL-K has improved its financial and logistical capabilities in the past six months, including by tapping into Afghan and Central Asian diasporas for support,” Vladimir Voronkov, undersecretary-general for counter-terrorism, said.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said Tuesday that about 3.7 million former refugees have returned to the country since the Islamist group took power three years ago. The statement was a response to the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, which reported last week that more than twice as many Afghans have left the country since 2020.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report regarding human rights in the country on Tuesday, providing reports of arbitrary arrest, torture, and killings. UNAMA’s latest report is based on monitoring undertaken by its Human Rights Service and covers the period from April to June 2024.